Niu Looking For Win In Season Of Bad Records

These are not the kind of records Charles Talley thought he and his Northern Illinois teammates would be setting this season:

- Lowest average time of possession by the Huskies.

- Longest losing streak at home in school history.

- Smallest senior class to go through it all.

"We worked so hard, starting with winter conditioning," the senior running back said. "We gotup at 5 a.m. for 11 weeks to work out. Then there was spring football. Then 95 percent of us stayed here (in DeKalb) for the summer, just to play football. It's real disappointing. It didn't turn out the way it was supposed to."

No senior envisions going out like this. In 31 seasons, Northern Illinois has never been winless at home for an entire season. But if the Huskies don't beat Louisiana Tech (5-4) Saturday on senior day, they will finish 0-5 in Huskie Stadium. And if they lose, they will have a seven-game losing streak at home--the longest in school history--dating to Oct. 28, 1995.

Not one senior on Northern's roster has ever enjoyed a winning season in DeKalb.

Talley is coming off his best game of the season: 161 yards rushing and one touchdown in 28 carries in a loss to Akron.